Divestment
Norway proposes divesting its $1trillion wealth fund from oil and gas - GoFossilFree.org November 17, 2017 :"The managers of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund – run by the Norwegian central bank – have recommended divesting $35 billion in oil stocks. If approved by the Norwegian government, this would be the first time a large equity investor has left the fossil fuel industry altogether. :This massive fund controls about 1.5% of global stocks, and a move like this would send dramatic shockwaves through the fossil fuel industry, specifically oil giants Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and others. Europe has already seen a drop in oil stock prices." Norway Idea to Exit Oil Stocks Is ‘Shot Heard Around the World’ - Bloomberg By Joe Ryan and Anna Hirtenstein, November 17, 2017 :"Norway’s proposal to sell off $35 billion in oil and natural gas stocks brings sudden and unparalleled heft to a once-grassroots movement to enlist investors in the fight against climate change. :The Nordic nation’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund said Thursday that it’s considering unloading its shares of Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other oil giants to diversify its holdings and guard against drops in crude prices. European oil stocks fell. :Norges Bank Investment Management would not be the first institutional investor to back away from fossil fuels. But until now, most have been state pension funds, universities and other smaller players that have limited their divestments to coal, tar sands or some of the other dirtiest fossil fuels. Norway’s fund is the world’s largest equity investor, controlling about 1.5 percent of global stocks. If it follows through on its proposal, it would be the first to abandon the sector altogether." :"While environmentalists heralded the fund’s proposal, the move has more to do with hedging risk than saving the planet. Norway derives about 20 percent of its economic output from oil and gas. Finance officials have long debated whether reinvesting those profits back into petroleum producers leaves Norwegians overly exposed to the volatility of oil prices. “Our perspective here is to spread the risks for the state’s wealth,” Egil Matsen, the deputy governor at the central bank in charge of overseeing the fund, said in an interview in Oslo Thursday. “We can do that better by not adding oil price risk through the fund.” It won’t happen quickly, said Per Magnus Nysveen, senior partner and head of analysis at the Oslo-based consulting company Rystad Energy. Norway’s positions in oil companies are vast, and finance ministers will unload their shares gradually if they want to maximize returns, Nysveen said. “We are taking about years rather than months or quarters,” he said. “This has nothing to do with the environment. It is purely a financial debate.” That’s true, Lubber said. But the debate, she said, underscores that climate change has made fossil fuels increasingly risky investments -- even in the eyes of a petroleum giant like Norway." https://cleantechnica.com/2018/10/14/a-fork-in-the-road-between-bps-bob-dudley-or-common-sense/ :"Royal Dutch Shell published its Annual Report in March of this year, and buried deep within the Strategic Report section were a few illuminating words concerning the divestment movement. Specifically, Shell highlighted three specific issues it believes could impact the company’s future financial performance — greenhouse gas emission regulation, fossil fuel divestment, and legal challenges." :"“The 2020s will be the decade of fossil fuel demand peaks, as one bastion after another is stormed and overwhelmed by the rising renewable tide,” explained Kingsmill Bond, Carbon Tracker New Energy Strategist and author of the report. “This will inevitably lead to trillions of dollars of stranded assets across the corporate sector and hit petro-states that fail to reinvent themselves.”" Category:Finance Category:Energy Category:Climate Category:Fossil Fuels